The hero of the Real Mockingjay
by hollogram
Summary: Peeta may never be the hero Katniss is for the rebellion, but he'll settle for being Katniss' hero. CATCHING FIRE FIC! SPOILERS INCLUDED! please review! I was too excited after reading the book not to write : oneshot, but maybe more.


**Hollabelle here.**

**So, I was** **in the window of the bookstore at 8:56, waiting for Catching Fire.**

**I'm super proud to say I was the first one to buy the book in that store and finished it a bit later.**

**I cannot get it out of my mind, so I wrote a story.**

**Apparently this is the first catching fire Fanfic.**

**If you haven't read CF, don't read this.**

**If you have, I hope you like it.**

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" No one really needs me" he had told Katniss less than a day ago. After thinking about it, he decided it was a lie. He knew Katniss' plans to keep him alive instead of her. She couldn't lie to him. But as he called her name and his whole world went upside down, something changed. It wasn't only that he couldn't move anymore. This change was inside.

He started to think, unable to do any more. Decode what just happened as fireworks erupted above him. That's when the hovercraft began to pick him up and another do the same to Katniss. Peeta could do nothing, but stare at the love of his life being whisked away.

Then something caught his eye. More like blinded him. It caught the sun for a second, attached to Katniss' shirt. The mockingjay pin. The symbol of the rebellion worn from the capital to District 12. All of a sudden everything clicked. Cinna's costume, the bracelets on Haymitch and Finnick… For a minute everything made sense.

Katniss wanted to save him so he could lead the rebellion with his words. But Peeeta now knew the rebellion couldn't work if she was dead. Katniss was the rebellion.

She was the mockingjay.

The mockingjays were an accidental creation of the capital. Only alive because the capitol underestimated their will to live. They are fiercely protective of their families, vicious is tampered with and sing beautifully. They are also the absence of the capital's control.

All of this is in the girl Peeta loves. All of this is being thrown away before his eyes.

But out of the corner of his eye, he sees that the person pulling Katniss into her aircraft is Haymitch. Peeta catches Haymitch's eye, but Haymitch turns away immediately.

He made his choice long before, and, in Peeta's mind, he was right.

It was Katniss they needed.

It was always Katniss.

All he could do was keep her alive, but the days he could protect her were over now. He knew he served better purpose with his face painted on banners. A new symbol since their mockingjay has finally come to their aid. He could be the boy who stayed silent. Or the boy with the bread, as Katniss knew him to be.

The rebellion has already reached the people. All Peeta could do is teach Panem to hold strong, which is why he will never speak. He will give away nothing in death. Betray no one.

Be as much of a hero as he can be for the rebellers.

Do as much as he can, alone, for Katniss.

Because the star-crossed lovers from District 12 act is finally over, and Peeta couldn't be happier.

By the point Peeta had reached his conclusion he was being pulled into the aircraft by angry men. Once on the floor he slumps over, unconscious. But as the plane flew away to where Peeta would surely meet his death, he dreams peacefully of the moment in time frozen with Katniss. A day of joy and rest. He dreams of the day where he and Katniss didn't have to worry. Eating, laying, sketching, playing, dreaming, and loving in the sun. In his world he could protect Katniss from everything. But even his dreams couldn't mask the reality of what was happening and what was sure to come. His dream turns into a nightmare and Peeta sits upright in his hospital bed to find himself looking straight into the snake like eyes of president Snow.

"Where's Katniss?", the man who would bring on Peeta's death yells.

Peeta just chuckled, fully prepared for what he had to do.

If only he actually knew.

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**Please review, and thanks for reading.**

**Love always,**

**Hollabelle.**


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